Students set for silent protest on tuition fees

Around 300 students from the University of Winchester will be conducting a silent protest, marching through Winchester from noon until 1pm.

And students from the University of Southampton will stage their own sit-down action outside the main concourse building, between noon and 3pm.

Seb Miell, president of the Winchester university student union, said: “This silent protest is to show we do not have to be loud and noisy to be heard and make a point. The protest will have a funeral theme and we will be carrying a coffin to show the future of higher education is bleak.”

Sixth formers from Peter Symonds and Barton Peveril colleges will also be staging a protest earlier in the morning, walking out of lessons before gathering in Winchester High Street at 11am.

But Mr Miell said: “Our relationship is good with Peter Symonds and it’s an important issue. It will affect college students more than us and they are entitled to do something but we do not want our protest to be hijacked.”

Mr Miell added the protest had the full support of the university, and had been coordinated with the police.

He said: “The University of Winchester is in full support of it as universities like Winchester will be greatly affected.

“We have been in close contact with the police because we want to make sure everything runs smoothly. It’s important we respect the community and the police.”

Sasha Watson, from the Southampton university student union said: “We want to show that students still have a voice and that we are against the tuition fee hikes and funding cuts. This is a very important message we want to send, but it was almost lost among the violence at Millbank, so we want to stage a very different kind of protest.”